Out in the open: Trump goes after Florida governor as support for DeSantis 2024 builds
Former President Donald Trump blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday, issuing a lengthy statement that called the Florida GOP leader an “average Republican governor with great public relations” and accused him of “playing games” over a potential future presidential bid.
Trump, who reiterated his previous “Ron DeSanctimonious” nickname in the press release, said DeSantis owes his entire political career to the former president’s past support of his campaign — something the former president says the governor now takes for granted.
“The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, and he says, ‘I’m only focused on the Governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future,’” Trump said. “Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer.”
The statement is Trump’s most forceful and public criticism of DeSantis to date and comes just days after the governor won a resounding reelection victory in Florida. DeSantis’ win came even as Republicans nationally faced a series of disappointing electoral setbacks, a contrast that prompted another wave of adoration for the governor among national Republicans as some of them seek a new leader for the party.
READ MORE: DeSantis’ landslide catapults him into spotlight as GOP’s Trump alternative
Trump’s statement appeared to confirm that he sees DeSantis as a potential rival for the party’s nomination, as he blasted conservative media for throwing their support behind the governor.
“NewsCorp, which is Fox, the Wall Street Journal, and the no longer great New York Post… is all in for Governor Ron DeSanctimonious,” Trump said.
Trump is widely expected to announce he’s running for president again next week at his Mar-a-Lago home, seeking to become the first man since Grover Cleveland in the late 19th century to hold non-consecutive terms in the White House.
DeSantis has not yet said whether he’s even considering running for president, though speculation over his future political ambitions has swirled for over a year. Polls of a hypothetical GOP presidential primary show the governor receiving the second most support, behind Trump but ahead of party leaders like former Vice President Mike Pence and onetime Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Several outlets reported on Election Day that Trump warned during a flight to South Florida that it would be a mistake for DeSantis to run for president. After the votes were tallied Tuesday, showing DeSantis had won a 20-point victory, Trump noted that he received more votes in Florida during the 2020 election.
In his statement, Trump criticized DeSantis for deciding to “close up” his state during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic and recalled the then-gubernatorial candidate coming to Trump for an endorsement in 2017 “in desperate shape” against Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam.
“Ron had low approval, bad polls, and no money, but he said that if I would Endorse him, he could win,” Trump said. “I didn’t know Adam so I said, ‘Let’s give it a shot, Ron.’”
Trump compared the conservative media’s newfound love of DeSantis to the resistance he saw to his 2016 presidential bid.
“The Wall Street Journal loved Low Energy Jeb Bush, and a succession of other people as they rapidly disappeared from sight, finally falling in line with me after I easily knocked them out, one by one,” Trump said. “We’re in exactly the same position now. They will keep coming after us, MAGA, but ultimately, we will win. Put America First and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 7:33 PM.